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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27835477">Any Means Necessary</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/20minutewalk/pseuds/20minutewalk'>20minutewalk</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Age Difference, Earth Kingdom (Avatar), Floor Sex, I woke up and chose violence, M/M, Politics, There Is No War In Ba Sing Se, Unhealthy Relationships, but what do you expect, sorry kuei, yes im aware this is a crime</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:20:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,797</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27835477</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/20minutewalk/pseuds/20minutewalk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Long Feng starts something and is forced to finish it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Earth King (Avatar)/Long Feng</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Any Means Necessary</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I'm sorry this has to exist but also its inevitable that someone would write it so I guess that person had to be me</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Long Feng wasn’t an arrogant man, he just at times enjoyed seeing exactly how far he could go in court without comment. Always being aware of the limits of his power was crucial to his success. Perhaps that was why he had been testing the limits of what the court would accept in terms of his closeness to the king as of late. He had made himself practically inseparable from the man lately, solely to hammer home the point that anyone who talked to Kuei would do it in his presence, or not at all. He had even taken to placing a hand on Kuei’s shoulder or back during meetings or large dinners. At first it had been simply to see if he could get away with it but Kuei hadn’t even seemed to pick up on it. Truly in character for him to not pick up on things, Long Feng thought. Really, he found that he enjoyed watching the court squirm. None of them may have appreciated him in power, but none would be able to do anything either, not with Kuei firmly behind him. Sure, people gossiped, but the Dai Li had taught many folks at court several lessons about gossip.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Earth King Kuei reclined on the floor mat, ripping pastries from a tray next to him in half to toss to Bosco, who was also lying sprawled out on the floor. Long Feng, having just let himself into the room, stiffly sat on a small stool in the corner, keeping his back perfectly straight against the wall. Really, Long Feng resented the ease with which the king relaxed. Despite having spent years clawing his way up to his place within the court, and even now wielding more power than the king himself, he still felt uncomfortable in the palace. Out of place.<br/>“It’s nice to see you again,” Kuei said. The statement felt too familiar for Long Feng’s comfort. <br/> He had indeed felt himself creeping into Kuei’s personal life as of late to an extent he did not intend. In terms of his relationship with Kuei, he generally attempted to remain in his good graces. Kuei gave out trust easily, even when it extended to controlling what was supposed to be his own government. The man had been coddled from birth, and it was not difficult to get him to relinquish responsibility, especially to one whom he quickly deemed a trusted ally. Whenever Kuei needed help, Long Feng had simply presented himself as a helping hand to take the project over. But lately, Kuei had been almost acting although he was a close friend, making him attend theater shows with him, inviting him for tea in his rooms at strange hours, even making him go to the palace baths with him once. Long Feng hated it. He had become surrounded by the king day and night, which was, ironically, exactly the impression he had hoped to give. The reality was much less enjoyable. Still, he had not discouraged it or let on his distaste, as such a thing would be quite counterproductive. <br/>“You as well, your majesty,” he said, purposely throwing in the title to feign formal distance. “what may I assist you with?”<br/>“Sometimes I feel like I don’t do enough,” Kuei said.<br/>“You do plenty, didn’t you get another monkey the other day?” Long Feng replied as Kuei threw another pastry to the bear beside him. Long Feng thought wistfully about how much work he would be doing at the moment if he wasn’t stuck here at Kuei’s beck and call. <br/>“Yeah.” Kuei fumbled with the jade beads around his neck. “Sometimes I feel like I could be doing more to help run the kingdom though, you know. You always seem busy doing something, maybe I could help lighten the load on you. I could handle something or other.”<br/>“Don’t worry about me, I can handle everything quite well. And besides, a king should be able to relax.” Long Feng replied. It wasn’t like Kuei hadn’t expressed the sentiment before, but he seemed to forget it easily every time he brought it up. They both knew he would rather be tending to his animals, organizing high society events, or reading in the library. Or whatever he did when Long Feng wasn’t there. He had opened the door to conspiracy himself, Long Feng often thought. A ruler should never neglect vigilance, and he himself never did. It was better for both of them the way it was now, even if Kuei didn’t know the extent to which power lay in Long Feng’s hands. He didn’t need to.<br/>“I suppose…” Kuei said.<br/>“Someone of your birthright should not have to spend all of their time working. That’s what I’m here for,” Long Feng was careful to control every muscle in his face as he repeated the statement. Kuei sat for a moment staring at the wall, squinting with dark jade eyes. Long Feng tried not to shift uncomfortably in his chair. The silence went on for an achingly long time. Kuei seemed to move on, however, when his eyes suddenly lit up. He snapped back around to meet Long Feng’s gaze again, smiling.<br/>“Oh, I almost forgot-- Next week is General Li’s birthday dinner, will you be there? Everyone else will be, of course.” <br/>“I’ll try. I might be busy” Long Feng had planned to skip the whole affair. Not that he didn’t like a feast and some music once in a while, he simply liked to remain selective about the amount of time he spent engaging with the court. And dancing. He hated dancing. Recently Kuei had been dragging him out all the more, and he had reluctantly attended whenever he insisted.<br/>“You know I like when you come, just stop in if you can, please” Kuei said. <br/>“You know I try,” Long Feng sighed. “I have to begin the training of the new Dai Li recruits next week, and I may not have the time. Of course, our security should remain of the utmost importance, your majesty. It is important to protect our city’s fine cultural heritage, and that of the Earth kingdom at large first and foremost.”. He would not have the time, he had already decided.<br/>“By any means necessary, I suppose...” Kuei said, adjusting his glasses. Long Feng smiled at Kuei’s repeating of  his own line.<br/>“Yes, by any means necessary”.<br/>“No feast then?” Kuei looked disappointed.<br/>“We’ll see,” Long Feng said. He liked to leave things in the air. Afterall, he might be forced to make an appearance. Not as if he did not already have agents at every single event to report any political developments to him already, but sometimes such agents could not be trusted. Long Feng prided himself on making sure to never rely on anyone too much.<br/>“You’re right, any resources you may need for it, I will make sure you are allocated.” <br/>“Excellent, it will be most helpful” Long Feng said. Kuei grabbed another pastry off the plate and gestured for  Long Feng to take it from across the room. Long Feng reluctantly got up from his chair and moved to sit on one of the floor mats next to Kuei, still retaining his stiff posture, his long braided hair lining up perfectly with his spine. The proximity to Kuei was uncomfortable. Still, he found himself once again admiring the man’s delicate bone structure from the side. He hated himself for it. He leaned forward to pour himself a cup of tea while carefully looking down at the cup to avoid eye contact. He hadn’t felt right at all in front of him lately.<br/>He tried desperately to push all thoughts from his head, as if Kuei could read them from the seat next to him. He was in control, he told himself. He knew that the Earth king could not have possibly known what thoughts had crossed his mind that day, but he couldn’t help but feel almost disgusting sitting there, not even a foot away from him. <br/>Then, Kuei put his hand over his. It was a friendly gesture, devoid of meaning, but Long Feng hated it. The heat of his palm seemed almost oppressively warm against his skin. <br/>“You look disturbed today, is something wrong?” Kuei asked.<br/>“No, nothing is wrong” he replied. “I merely have a bit of a headache” Disturbed. For someone who continuously proved himself bad at catching onto things, he wasn’t far off, Long Feng grimaced. He hated the king to see his distress in any form, even if he was unaware of the true cause.<br/>“I feel like I haven’t seen much of you since the palace baths last week, are you sick?”<br/>“I might be, but it is nothing I cannot manage” Indeed, Long Feng felt sick in his own way, but to be sick was to be weak.<br/>“You did act oddly last week, were you feeling ok then?” Kuei asked. <br/>“I did not act oddly to my knowledge” Long Feng said, taking a sip of tea. He forced himself to run through his mental checklist for his current goals with the king. Establish control of the army and council of five once and for all, have tighter control on refugees coming into the city, and get Kuei to agree to expand the Dai Li budget so he could properly survey middling and lower status government agents.<br/>“I have to ask, why were you staring at me the whole time though?” Kuei said. Long Feng resisted the urge to spit out his tea, instead opting to remain perfectly still, frozen to the spot. He felt his outstretched hand shake ever so slightly. Why did this have to be the absolute first time Kuei was ever observant? He was a stupid man choosing the worst possible moment to wake up. <br/>“I wasn’t” he said, mentally picturing himself earthbending a hole through the door in order to get out of the room. But he stayed put, fleeing was a coward’s game.<br/>“It’s ok, I’ve been noticing you acting differently to me in court too.” Kuei said<br/>“I wasn’t” he repeated<br/>“You were, but it’s ok.” Kuei put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it” He smiled. Long Feng stared at the edge of the table. He was appalled at the slight push back from Kuei, which almost never occurred. A hot spike of anger surged through his body at the notion. He said nothing, trying fruitlessly to once again gather his thoughts.<br/>“I just want you to know that I truly don’t mind if you feel that way. I have tremendous respect for you and would trust you with my life if I had to. I would be willing to try a more intimate relationship if that’s what you want; I’ve actually been reading several texts at the moment that many previous Earth kings had relationships with both female and male lov--”<br/>“Don’t” Long Feng grabbed away the wrist of the king’s hand that still sat on his shoulder and furiously stared at him. Kuei flinched, frightened by the sudden show of aggression by the man who usually maintained such a cold exterior. Long Feng still clenched Kuei’s wrist hard to his side, and Kuei looked down at it, noticeably uncomfortable.<br/>“I’m sorry, I thought-” Kuei began and then stopped. There was a long moment of silence. Long Feng let go of his wrist and stared down once more, returning his face to its usual impassive mask.<br/>“I thought that would go differently i guess” He finished<br/>“And why did you believe I would wish to disgrace my entire reputation and my professionality in front of the whole court, exactly?” Long Feng asked, carefully avoiding the question of his actions in the first place, which he could admit were not entirely logical. At times a small part of him had even enjoyed the thought of people privately speculating about their relationship, and he knew he had leaned into it just a degree too far. But he wasn’t about to say any of that, and took another sip from his cup of tea on the table.<br/>“I just wanted--” Kuei again trailed off his sentence, and the two men sat once again in silence. <br/>“I hope you understand why it is not advisable,” Long Feng said, trying to repair his behavior.<br/>“ I do, I just saw <br/>He put a hand on the king’s arm more out of force of habit than anything else, but it was a poor attempt at comfort..<br/>“Oh will you just stop doing that!” Kuei suddenly snapped at him. “Sometimes I feel like you're purposely trying to confuse me! Either admit you want more or stop touching me and get out!” Long Feng leaned forward to respond, but stopped himself, feeling Kuei’s hot breath on his face. Kuei was a shy man and  almost never angry, and when he was, it had never, for the entire time that they had known each other, been directed at Long Feng. The two locked eyes for a moment, both furious.<br/>“Fine then!” He said angrily, and grabbed Kuei by the waist this time, kissing him hard. Kuei was shocked at first by the unexpected forcefulness of the gesture, but returned the kiss as he let Long Feng lower him down onto the pillows that lay on the floor. Long Feng felt a power at the surrealness of the situation, here he was, able to fool perhaps the second most powerful man in the world into not only transferring all of his influence onto him, but also being able to physically pin that same man onto the floor with absolutely no objection. Kuei gasped as Long Feng took the arm at his side and pinned it above his head. He placed his other hand on Long Feng’s back to pull him closer.<br/>“So I was right then?” Kuei asked breathlessly, pulling away momentarily. Long Feng took an odd pleasure at seeing the man disheveled, glasses askew and blushing heavily with strands of hair falling out of the loose braid at the back of his head. Still, he did not feel like answering Kuei’s question, and answered him by kissing him again. He maneuvered himself to press a knee between Kuei’s legs. Kuei made a sound of approval as he attempted to pull Long Feng closer still, grabbing onto the back of his jacket.<br/>This time, Long Feng pulled away, but only to remove his long coat and flung it to the corner of the room, in a manner very unlike himself, he thought, but he didn’t feel like being distracted from his current task at the moment. Kuei looked at him nervously and took his hat off, meaninglessly fussing at the customary finely embroidered robe he was wearing, almost unsure about how it would come off at all. He gave Long Feng a questioning stare, to which Long Feng responded by simply hiking the thick folds of fabric up to Kuei’s chest, exposing the thin silk pants he wore underneath and pushing him back onto the pillows next to the table.<br/>He pressed his hand against Kuei’s cock through the thin fabric and Kuei let out a loud moan. He removed his hand and once again placed it at Kuei’s side.<br/>“Keep going--,” Kuei said frantically, but Long Feng practically rolled his eyes, electing instead to take his time running his hand along his inner thigh before finally beginning to jerk him off through the loose fabric while continuing to kiss his neck. It might have been almost romantic, if it was with anyone else. He didn’t look Kuei in the eye. Kuei pulled at Long Feng’s undershirt in an attempt to bring him closer as he let out what Long Feng viewed as unseemly noises. He hoped no one was in the next room to hear it.<br/>The king let out a last strangled gasp as he finished and for the second the two stayed in each other’s arms on the floor. For a moment they were face to face, both silently acknowledging what had just happened. But Long Feng wasn’t much for acknowledgement, and he quickly moved off of Kuei to unceremoniously finish himself in the corner with his back to the table. Kuei watched for a minute, dazed, and then sat up in confusion.<br/>“Do you want me to...” he didn’t finish the question.<br/>“No.” Long Feng responded with certainty, already done and heading to grab his coat from the corner. He absentmindedly smoothed down the hair on his brow into its normal slicked back neatness, still facing away from Kuei.<br/> Before Kuei could ask if he had done anything wrong, he had already left and shut the door behind him.</p>
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